Insurance

NCAA inviting institutions’ interest in basic accident plan

The NCAA is establishing a group basic accident medical program that initially will include 25 to 30 institutions representing all three membership divisions.

Depending on the insurance program’s success in developing and managing what is being described as “innovative approaches to controlling costs,” it could be expanded in the future to include other institutions that would agree to comply with cost-saving measures and other requirements established for coverage.

The program’s purpose is to provide long-term, stable athletics injury insurance coverage up to the NCAA Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program deductible, which is currently $75,000.

A memorandum inviting institutions to submit an “Indication of Interest” form recently was mailed to member institutions. The deadline for returning the form to American Specialty Insurance & Risk Services, Inc., the firm assisting with the program’s implementation, has been extended to April 3.

American Specialty will communicate with interested institutions during April to obtain additional information for use by the NCAA in determining participants, and then will present proposals by mid-June to selected institutions.

Participants will be determined based on how well each could contribute to successful implementation of the program.

If enough institutions commit to the program by August 1, it will be implemented for the 2006-07 school year.

Staff contact: Juanita Sheely.

Gender equity

Speakers, interaction planned for annual forum in Cleveland

The 2006 Gender Equity and Issues Forum April 30-May 2 in Cleveland will celebrate the 25th anniversary of NCAA women’s championships while also offering interactive and application-oriented programming on a variety of topics.

The theme of this year’s forum is “Women Rock.”

Highlights of the forum include addresses by Stedman Graham, a management and marketing consulting executive and educator who has focused a portion of his work on athletics, and Christine Brennan, author and USA Today columnist.

Title IX issues also will be in focus, through an address by Neena Chaudry of the National Women’s Law Center and a showing of the film “A Hero for Daisy,” which documents a 1976 protest by Olympian Chris Ernst and fellow Yale University students seeking equitable athletics facilities at the institution.

Breakout sessions for Divisions I, II and III and roundtable discussions on such topics as professional development opportunities, fund raising, legal issues and sexual harassment also are planned during the forum.

Registration information is available at the NCAA Web site, by searching for “gender equity” and following the link.

Staff contact: Rosie Stallman.

Drug testing

Plans call for summer testing in Division I beginning this year

Recognizing that vacation time isn’t down time for student-athletes preparing for next season, the NCAA is planning to conduct drug testing during summer months beginning this year.

Acting on authority granted in Bylaws 18.4.1.5.2 and 21.2.2.2, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports has authorized summer testing at Division I institutions, focusing this year on football and baseball.

The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc., which conducts testing for the Association, will advise institutions in an April memorandum on how to prepare for the summer initiative.

Institutions will be instructed to designate a staff member to serve as a site coordinator for summer testing. Site coordinators will be responsible for contacting and notifying randomly selected student-athletes of their selection for testing, and for assisting Drug Free Sport in arranging collections.

Testing likely will include student-athletes who are not physically present on campuses, though the program will adhere in all other respects to the protocol used in the NCAA’s year-round testing program — including its chain-of-custody, confidentiality, penalty and appeal procedures.

For more information, see page 1.

Basketball

‘On-demand’ Internet service posts apparent record numbers

CBS SportsLine reported that it served more than 14 million streams of live video through its NCAA March Madness on Demand service during first- and second-round games of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship March 16-19 and recorded more than four milion visitors. Both figures are believed to be records for any live event in Internet history.

NASA’s online video coverage of the launch and landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery is believed to have held the record, with more than 2.6 million visitors.

“Through the success of March Madness on Demand, we have been able to provide unprecedented viewing options by maximizing the network’s NCAA bundled rights and the full range of assets of the new CBS Corporation,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports. “March Madness on Demand will continue to add to the viewing experience for hard-core basketball fans everywhere.”

“The growth in reach of the NCAA basketball championship is evident in every measure we see,” said Tom Jernstedt, NCAA executive vice president. “The addition of the free March Madness on Demand package has elevated fan following to another level and we’re very pleased with the growth of the game evidenced across so many forms of media.”

CBS SportsLine also reported that 1.15 million users registered for the service.